


The 25,913 Times Aspik Couldn't Save Ladybug

by snekwami



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Time Loop, and very very long by the end, this will be both absurdly cracky and horrendously angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-11-27 04:43:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20942471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snekwami/pseuds/snekwami
Summary: Adrien activated his “Second Chance” power and mentally prepared himself for a reset or two. Ten, fifteen minutes? Not more. He wouldn’t need that long.Poor, poor Adrien.He had no idea of what was to come.





	1. 0-3

**Author's Note:**

> ...and the one time Viperion eventually did ;)
> 
> Alright so, in the Desperada episode, we only got to see maybe 10 or so of the time loops that poor Adrikins had to live through for a few months. Because I hate myself, I've decided to write all 25,913 of them. This may take me several years.
> 
> Thank you to all the people who've already contributed ideas! Since I've got literally thousands of time loops to kill, I'm going to run out of steam somewhere along the line without inspiration. If you have an idea for one of the loops and want to share it then go ahead! I'll credit everyone if I use any of your loops. It doesn't matter if it's cracky, angsty, anything in between. We have a LOT of spare time in this fic so pretty much anything goes.
> 
> It's predominantly Ladrien. However, there's gonna be some Lukadrien too at some point. Boy isn't gonna go several months reliving the same five minutes over and over without making it at least a little gay.
> 
> There will be existential angst. You have been warned.

0.

When Ladybug first entrusted Adrien with the powers of the snake, it filled him with pride. He had been chosen, once again! And this time by none other than Ladybug herself! Already accustomed to being a superhero, he was certain he could do a good job. He knew how to handle things. Would he even need to use his time travel superpower? Probably only a few times at most. It couldn’t take _that_ long to beat an akuma villain, surely, not when he’d already done it so many times before as a cat instead of a snake.

With that encouraging thought in his mind, he activated his “Second Chance” power and mentally prepared himself for a reset or two. Ten, fifteen minutes? Not more. He wouldn’t need that long.

Poor, poor Adrien.

He had _no idea_ of what was to come.

* * *

i.

“We now have five minutes,” Ladybug said. “Within this time range you can go back in time as many times as you want. But after that, when the head of the snake goes back in place, you’ll detransform.”

Adrien glanced down at the bracelet on his wrist. Sure enough, the snake head was inching closer to its original position, though slowly enough that it was almost unnoticeable.

Ladybug looked around, frowning. “Still no Chat... Come to think of it, we’re okay without him.”

What? The words dampened Adrien’s spirits slightly – it hurt to think that maybe there were times when Ladybug didn’t need him. Well, alright, she needed him, but not as Chat Noir!

“Yeah, we’re okay now that we have _your_ power!” Ladybug continued. “You and I are going to make an awesome team!”

With that, she gently took his hand in her own, and began climbing up the ladder towards daylight.

Yeah... he and Ladybug were always an awesome team, weren’t they? It didn’t really matter if he was Chat Noir or not. He could still support her like this, as... as Aspik. There, that was a sufficiently snakey sort of name, right? With a smile back on his face now, he followed her out of the sewer.

-

Up on the surface, they hid behind a nearby car, waiting for Desperada to show herself. She had to be in the vicinity. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Adrien vaguely wondered what Plagg was up to, but then concluded that the lazy kwami was probably off somewhere eating some stinky old cheese or something, and promptly forgot about him.

Ladybug crept out onto the road. “Where is she...?”

There was a zap of light accompanied by the distant toot of a trumpet. It hit Ladybug square in the back – the next second she had vanished.

Adrien scrambled back behind the car in shock. Very rarely had he ever seen Ladybug suffer a direct hit like that.

She wasn’t _dead_, was she? The morbid thought crossed his mind before he could shake it.

No... Desperada wasn’t killing anyone. Simply trapping them, able to be let out at any time.

Phew. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, then. From what Adrien had heard, there had been the odd time when Ladybug had to watch Chat Noir die for real.

Still, to see her just vanish in front of him like that...

“Awesome team, alright?”

The sound of Plagg’s sarcastic drawl snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Plagg hovering beside him with his hands on his hips. Or, well, whatever the kwami equivalent of _hips_ were.

Anyway, it had just been a mistake. A careless, stupid mistake. Adrien looked down at the bracelet on his wrist. With this, he could easily just rewind a few minutes and fix this. It wouldn’t happen again. He couldn’t _let it_ happen again.

No – this time he was going to actually succeed. He wasn’t going to let his lady down again.

“Gimme some time,” he muttered, turning back the snake head.

* * *

ii.

He opened his eyes.

Back in that sewer tunnel again, with Ladybug standing right in front of him exactly as she was before.

This time, he was prepared. Heck, this time he was _excited_. Time to do the right thing.

“We now have five minutes–”

“Before I transform back, I know,” Adrien said, remembering her words from last time.

“Did we not make it?”

“No, but I used my power of Second Chance. No time to wait for Chat Noir, we’re fine without him. You’ll see. We’re gonna make an awesome team, Aspik and Ladybug!”

Ladybug smiled sweetly at him, looking genuinely impressed. “Aspik? Wow, you’ve only just started being a superhero and you already seem to have all of this down!”

Hah, if only she knew. “Guess you made the right choice, Ladybug.”

Once again, she took his hand and led him out towards daylight.

-

“Where is she...?”

Before the events of the previous time could unfold, Adrien grabbed Ladybug’s hand and pulled her back behind the car again. “No wait! The first time, Desperada’s fire came from there!”

He tilted his head in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug understood – the two of them ran off in the opposite direction instead, hopefully away from danger.

Plagg was watching this, right? Now he’d see the truth! Ladybug and Adri– no, _Aspik_, really were an awesome team! No amount of sarcasm could hide that.

His deep admiration for Ladybug was clouding his thoughts. Running down the road, he spotted a bouquet of flowers at his feet, and his first thought was that if Chat Noir gave those to her, she’d laugh and dismiss them, uninterested as always.

But... did he have a new chance as Aspik? He already knew that Ladybug had a fondness for Adrien Agreste, it was easy to tell.

Maybe his chances of success were a bit better right now...

He picked up a flower and held it out to her, knowing he was blushing under his mask. “Here, as a thank you for choosing me...”

“Oh! Uh...”

For a second she was taken aback, and he wondered if he’d completely messed up. But then she smiled and took the flower.

“Thanks.”

Should he say “you’re welcome” or would that ruin the moment? He settled for what was probably a cheesy grin – he never really made the best decisions around Ladybug anyway, did he? Not when she was smiling at him like that...

BAM!

A flash of light. Yet again Ladybug was zapped out of material reality right in front of his eyes.

Desperada stood triumphant in her place, wielding some kind of guitar axe in hand.

No! Not again!

Adrien rushed away, unable to get the image of _Ladybug being hit with an axe_ out of his head. That had been worse than last time – so much worse!

His feet had carried him down into the metro without him realizing. He vaguely registered a little flash of black and green beside him, and had to stop himself rolling his eyes at the inevitable snark this kwami was about to bestow on him. Trust Plagg to have seen all that.

“Awesome team, alright?”

“I just need a bit more time!” Adrien said.

“To do what? Charm Ladybug, or defeat the villain?”

Ugh, he didn’t understand! Adrien flicked the snake head on the bracelet and mentally prepared himself to relive these five minutes yet another time. “Second Chance!”

* * *

iii.

“We now have five – ah!”

Adrien didn’t let Ladybug finish before grabbing her hand and pulling her off in the other direction at a sprint. “Trust me! We’ve been through this before!”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Chat Noir?”

“No need. Let’s try a different exit this time.”

Ladybug, smart as always, cottoned on immediately. “So you’ve saved my life several times already? Aw... I knew–”

“–we’d make an awesome team?” Adrien suggested. “I hope you’re right.”

Ladybug mumbled something to herself that Adrien didn’t quite catch, but he very much hoped it was something nice.

-

Out on the road, the side of a nearby bus made a convenient hiding place.

“Seems okay here,” Adrien said, crouching down and pulling Ladybug in close. To his delight, she leaned right into him in a way he never thought he’d experience. Almost like... she wanted his protection? Yeah, that had to be it. The only other explanation was that she _liked_ him, and come on, she was Ladybug, there wasn’t a chance of that. She didn’t even like Chat Noir, after all. Why would she like Adrien Agreste?

All the same, it did give him a spark of daring, and he curled his arm in to bring her even closer.

“Adrien – I mean snake–”

“Call me Aspik,” he breathed.

“Aspik,” she repeated, gazing right into his eyes. “You really are a super–”

There was a sound from above them. Adrien looked up – too late.

For the third time, Ladybug was hit. This time Desperada had shot her from up on top of the bus, and she dematerialized from right in Adrien’s grasp.

_No... NO._

There was no time to mourn. He rolled beneath the bus, out of Desperada’s range.

For god’s sake! Was this really going to require a fourth reset? In a way it was getting tedious, and yet even that word wasn’t right, because it wasn’t exactly _tedious_ to watch Ladybug essentially die right in front of him, it was horrifying, and somehow he just couldn’t seem to stop it!

Plagg popped up before he even had time to process his thoughts. “Awesome team, a–”

“I know!”

He pushed the snake head back, a weird mix of grief and fury welling up inside him. Watching Ladybug disappear, knowing it was because he had failed to protect her, and then immediately back in the action with no time to even think? This was the worst kind of whiplash.

Never mind. He couldn’t break down now. Next time he’d manage it properly, and then he and Ladybug could defeat Desperada and save the day. _Then_ he could take a step back and allow his brain to think every thought it was currently suppressing.

And if not next time, then the time after that. Or after that.

As long as it took.

The bracelet rewound those five minutes again, and as it did so, he made a solemn promise.

No matter what, _no matter how many resets_, he wouldn’t let Ladybug down. He’d keep going 100 times if he had to. 200, even! His lady needed him.

He was going to save her. No giving up allowed.


	2. 4-9

iv.

This time, Adrien was more cautious. He couldn’t let himself become distracted and forget to protect Ladybug. They were a team, after all! They had to look out for each other. If he was too busy cuddling up with her to defend against Desperada, well, that was his fault then. He was determined not to let it happen again.

Ladybug was speaking to him, but he barely listened. He’d heard it all before already. Not even waiting for her to finish, he took her hand and began walking down the tunnel, turning a different way at the end to what they had done last time. A new path was their best bet at staying safe.

“Adrien?” Ladybug was saying, surprised. “What happened? Shouldn’t we wait for Chat Noir?”

Aw, she still wanted him to be with them. Well, _other_ him. But he shook his head. “This is the fourth time, Ladybug. He didn’t show up the other times so there’s no point waiting.”

“You mean you already went back in time four times?”

“Three, technically...”

“What happened?”

He could barely turn his head back to look her in the eye, guilt creeping up his insides. “I couldn’t protect you. You got hit by Desperada.”

Her eyes widened.

“But I won’t let it happen this time,” he said quickly. “I won’t be so careless. We’ll defeat her this time, you’ll see.”

She smiled. “You’re right Adrien...”

“Call me Aspik.”

“Oh! Aspik – that’s a nice superhero name!”

He willed himself not to blush, and looked forward again to look for any sign of exit. Surely they must be far enough away from Desperada now.

There! Another ladder to an exit. A much safer route, hopefully.

-

Out on the surface again, Adrien kept a close eye out for Desperada. Ladybug seemed to sense it, and she too behaved a little more cautiously – keeping low to the ground, eyes darting from side to side, light tread.

It was all for nothing.

As they passed under an archway, Desperada was waiting for them on the other side and shot Ladybug.

_Oh for goodness’ sake!_

Adrien hid back behind the arch as quick as he could. “Not again!!”

How had that even happened? They were being careful that time! And yet somehow Desperada had managed to catch them unawares!

No, that time had been bad luck. It was neither of their faults. There had been no silly flirting, no getting distracted, no flowers, no hugs. Just the two of them carefully creeping around, the way Adrien often did with her as Chat Noir.

So how unlucky could they have been for this to happen?

It was just so _fast_. It had happened before he could even react. Not even time to blink.

This whole thing, really, so fast paced – why couldn’t the bracelet have a 10 minute limit, instead of 5? That would make things a lot easier, or at least give him a moment to rest.

But as it was, he had no time to rest at all. Desperada was right round the corner from him, and he was probably next up on her hit list. He couldn’t stay here.

Flicking the bracelet, he went back in time.

* * *

v.

Back to the beginning once more.

“We now have five minutes–”

“I know, and this is the fifth time,” he said.

“What?”

“This is the fifth time I'm trying this. We already failed the last four times.”

Ladybug covered her mouth in surprise. “We failed? What happened?”

“You... you kept getting hit by Desperada,” Adrien admitted, as painful as it was to say. “I couldn't prevent it.”

“So you must have been fighting non-stop for almost 15 minutes now...” She smiled and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Don't worry though. Every time you reset, so do your energy levels. From what I know about it, you could keep resetting for days and not even need to eat or sleep!”

Adrien involuntarily recoiled in shock. Ladybug quickly backtracked and laughed it off.

“Not that you'll be stuck resetting for days, of course! Haha, no way... We'll do it this time. You must have learnt from what we did last time that failed, right? Now we can do it properly. Just lead the way!”

Adrien glanced down at the bracelet. The two of them had already been talking for a fair amount of time, standing here for longer than they had done in the other loops. There wasn't all that much time left. But then again, rushing into things wasn't the best course of action – and they couldn't rely on blind luck either, or Desperada would get them every time.

“Maybe it's better to think things through and form a plan,” he suggested. “Like you always do.”

She beamed at him. “Are you a fan of me?”

“Of course I am! Who isn't?”

“Aw Adrien, that's so sweet...”

“Call me Aspik.”

He had said it a few times already by now, and he hadn't yet tired of seeing the look of delight on her face. No matter how many times he had to reset, he was pretty sure he would be sticking with this name.

There were footsteps from behind them. Adrien tensed up, wondering how Desperada could _possibly_ have got down here so quick – until he heard a familiar voice, and one that definitely wasn't Desperada.

“Ladybug?”

They both turned to see that it was none other than Luka Couffaine, who Adrien had put safely inside a locker ages ago.

Well no, not ages ago – barely five minutes ago. But having gone through four resets already, it had certainly felt like ages. Anyway, what was this boy doing wandering around during an akuma attack?!

“It's dangerous to be here, you should go hide somewhere!” Adrien said.

“I came out to look for Adrien,” Luka said, walking up to him and Ladybug. “I thought he was hiding with me but I don't know where he went... Did you find him, Ladybug?”

Adrien already knew what it felt like to be standing right in front of someone who didn't recognize him – it happened all the time with Chat Noir. But it was surreal to experience it as Aspik too.

“Don't worry about that,” Ladybug said quickly. “Aspik is right – you should hide. It may not be safe here.”

For a few seconds Luka just stared at Adrien – well, “Aspik" – almost frowning slightly. Then his mouth dropped open. “Adrien? Is that you?”

Wait, what?!

“Of course not!” he gabbled. “I’m Aspik, and I - I've never heard of Adrien Agreste in my life–”

Luka was not looking even remotely convinced. But come on! It was so easy to hide his identity as Chat Noir! Why was he so bad at doing it as Aspik?

And how the hell had Luka worked it out?!

“I won't tell anyone,” Luka promised. “It's just that Ladybug was looking for Adrien, and now you're here, and you sound kind of like him, and... I'll keep it a secret, I won't tell...”

“Oh, you won't get a _chance_ to tell,” Ladybug said, hands on her hips in annoyance. “Aspik, reset the loop.”

Adrien looked at her. “What, now? We haven't tried to defeat Desperada yet!”

“There's no point. Your identity has to stay a secret. Reset the loop, and next time don't talk to Luka!”

Right, right, made sense...

“What time loop?” Luka asked.

Hey, he was going to forget it in a few seconds, no point keeping it from him. “I can reset back to the time I first activated my power,” Adrien explained, holding up his wrist to show Luka the bracelet. “You won't remember any of it. And neither will Ladybug.”

Ladybug nodded. “That's right. Next time, perhaps we should leave this tunnel sooner so that we don't bump into Luka. How about that way?” She pointed up at the ladder beside her, but Adrien shook his head.

“Desperada's waiting up there with a sniper weapon. She'll spot us, and you'll get hit again. We've already tried some of the other tunnel exits too. I guess we'll have to just keep looking for new exits and hoping that one's our lucky break...”

“Well you have a better idea than me, so use it to your advantage. Next time we'll do it right!”

Luka looked as if he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut as he often did. That guy always seemed to know when was the right time to speak up and when to be quiet. Right now, with not much time left on the bracelet, talking much more wasn't going to accomplish anything.

Adrien gave the two of them a quick nod, then flicked the bracelet.

* * *

vi.

Materializing in front of Ladybug again, Adrien didn't waste any time. He took her arm and began running down the tunnel. “We have to get away from here before Luka shows up, or he'll figure out my identity!”

Ladybug immediately worked out what was going on. “Is that what happened last time?”

“Yep. And we need to find an exit we haven't used before. Desperada has a scope on her weapon and can see a huge distance away, plus she's up on the Eiffel Tower. We have to find somewhere she won't see us. Just follow me.”

“Of course, Adrien...”

“And call me Aspik!”

He couldn't help grinning. How many times by now had he told her to call him Aspik? Hopefully he'd never tire of it.

But even as he turned his attention back to the matter at hand, his mind began to wander. After all, it had been 20 minutes or so, and staying focused for so long was starting to take a toll on his brain, even if his “energy levels" did reset along with the timeline.

How did Ladybug know all of that about the snake, anyway? The Guardian had probably told her. He seemed to tell her a lot of things. But then again, how would anyone know about the energy levels resetting, unless... unless someone had physically experienced it before?

Adrien shuddered. To think that someone, at some point in history, had used these powers and failed over and over, so many times that it lasted longer than an entire day for them, and they didn't even need to eat or sleep, they just had to keep endlessly trying until they succeeded in their task...

That sounded like the worst kind of torture.

Heck, even five resets was getting tedious enough. Adrien very much hoped that this would be over soon. He did _not_ want to have to go through an entire day of this. He already knew how to be a superhero so surely there was no way it could take anywhere near that long.

Right?

-

They clambered out of a new exit this time, Adrien making sure that they were out of sight of the Eiffel Tower first. It seemed to be deserted for now – good.

As they hid behind a car, Ladybug seemed to be moving in to lean against him again, like she had done a few loops ago behind the bus. Reluctantly, Adrien moved away. As much as he would just love to hold her that close again, he couldn't let himself be distracted. And he couldn't let Ladybug be distracted either!

“Did Desperada always attack from the Eiffel Tower?” Ladybug whispered.

“No, sometimes she's been down here on the street.”

“So... she could be anywhere?”

Adrien nodded. Ladybug stepped forward and stood in front of him, yoyo spinning round in preparation.

“I'll protect you, don't worry,” she said, her voice filled with determination.

“But it's supposed to be me protecting you! You're the one who's been hit every time...”

“That's a good thing! If I get hit, you can always reset everything and try again. But what would I do if you got hit? That would be the end of things! It's good that she keeps going for me first. It always gives you a chance to escape.”

Huh... she was right. And that intense look she was giving him, it was enough to melt him on the spot...

“Don't worry about a thing, Aspik. I will always protec–”

She didn't get to finish. From up on the roof of the building, Desperada shot her.

Adrien leapt right back down the hole into the sewer tunnel, barely stopping to think.

Come on... again??? This was ridiculous!

“Having fun there?”

Oh, and Plagg was here too, watching all that. Adrien had almost forgotten about him, having not seen him for a few loops in a row now.

“I got unlucky, I just need more time,” he replied.

“How many times will you get unlucky?”

“None. I'll do it next time.”

Plagg yawned. “If you say so...”

Conscious that Desperada might follow him down here at any moment, Adrien flicked the bracelet.

* * *

vii.

“We now have five minutes–”

Adrien ignored her and pulled her down the tunnels again, trying to remember which direction he had gone in last time so that he could try somewhere else now. If only he had done this consistently from the start! Had he gone left here, or right? It was starting to blur together a bit in his memory.

As they ran, he decided it might be worth explaining a few things. “Ladybug, Desperada is excellent at tracking us down and keeps hitting you before I can do anything about it. Chat Noir never shows up. If Luka sees me, he'll recognize me as Adrien. But you can call me Aspik.”

“Aspik... that's a lovely name!”

The blood rushed up to his cheeks before he could stop it, and he almost didn't care. The most important thing for now was finding a way to defeat Desperada, not hiding his huge crush on Ladybug!

“Desperada aims for you, not me,” he continued. “That's why I keep surviving.”

“Well that's a good thing! And it's because she needs my earrings, to give them to Hawk Moth, whereas she doesn't know who you are...”

That much was true. No matter what else happened, Adrien could count on the fact that _Desperada would always attack Ladybug first._ After all, she had no idea that Adrien could reset it whenever he wanted. So she would leave him alone and go for Ladybug, meaning he would always be able to escape...

It was honestly so weird being the survivor for once. He couldn't even count how many times he had sacrificed himself for Ladybug back as Chat Noir – those times, it was _Ladybug_ who needed to stay in action at all costs. He was usually the “expendable" one. Having it be the other way round now, well... it didn't feel good.

And watching Ladybug being hit over and over didn't feel good either...

He had made his promise, though, his promise to keep trying until he could get it right. No matter what it took. He had vowed to protect Ladybug, and he wouldn't break that vow for anything.

-

Up on the surface, they were in a much smaller alleyway to the side of the main road now. Thank goodness. There was way more cover here, they were far less likely to be ambushed.

“Now what?” Ladybug asked. “Any plans on how to defeat Desperada?”

Adrien held up his weapon. “Well I have this lyre thing, I could throw it like a boomerang at her...”

Ladybug chuckled. “Good idea! Have you tried it yet?”

“No, I haven't had a chance, since Desperada keeps finding us before we can find her...”

“Hmm. We need to think of a way to track her down. That way it's us who’ll have the element of surprise!”

“Yeah!”

He suddenly noticed with alarm that their voices had been creeping up in volume, emboldened by their hiding spot undercover. It was only the fact that his words were echoing around between the walls that warned him how loud they were being – and once again, it was too late.

As soon as Adrien spotted Desperada at the end of the alleyway, he didn't even watch as Ladybug was vaporized. He simply rolled his eyes and flicked the bracelet.

* * *

viii.

No paying attention, as usual he grabbed Ladybug's arm and ran. There was no time for anything else.

Which way was it again? This way? That way? He had been here just a few minutes ago, but all these tunnels looked the same!

“Eighth time,” he muttered to Ladybug.

“You've reset eight times already?!”

“Seven times, technically.”

For several seconds she was stunned into silence, before finally thinking of something to say. “Well, uh, eight's a lucky number, right?”

“So is seven and we still failed that one...”

She didn't ask him any further questions, opting to just quietly follow him. Did he sound frustrated? Yeah, he probably did. He _was_ frustrated! But he hoped that she realized that he wasn't frustrated at her, no, far from it. If anything, it was himself he was mad at. For failing so much. He was mad at Desperada too, for winning every time so far.

And most of all, he was mad at Hawk Moth for putting them into this stupid situation in the first place!

-

Up on the surface, instead of staying in one place and hiding, they ran down the street as fast as they could. At least this way they wouldn't be sitting ducks.

“So what happened the first seven times?” Ladybug asked him as they ran, seeming genuinely curious.

Where to even begin? “Desperada killed you a bunch, Luka found out my identity, the–”

“Wait wait wait – I DIED?!”

“Well no, she didn't actually kill you! She hit you and you got trapped in her – her – her thing that she's trapping everyone in...”

What was the word? His brain... oh god, his brain was getting sluggish, he had been on-edge for far too long. He tried to do the mental calculation in his head to figure out how long it had been. Come on, 7 × 5, it wasn't that hard...

“35!” he said in triumph.

“Uh... what?”

“35 minutes so far I've spent in the loops. Assuming about 5 minutes per loop, that is. Though some of them maybe took less time than that.”

“Um... right.”

Ladybug was still frowning at him as if he was slightly crazy, and to be honest, yelling out random numbers in the middle of the street probably did give off that effect. But hey, his head was starting to buzz from being stuck in this stressful situation for over half an hour now. Some maths was just what he needed to keep his wits sharp.

And clearly his wits were currently very blunt, because he didn't even notice Desperada aiming a shot at Ladybug until it was too late.

_No! Not again!_

He darted behind a nearby car, temper rising. He really thought they'd get away this time, or at least have some time to actually think and make a plan together! But no...

Ugh. Desperada was going to haunt his dreams tonight, he was sure of it.

Before Plagg could pop up and start making snide comments again, Adrien flicked the bracelet.

* * *

ix.

“I know, I know, we now have five minutes,” Adrien huffed. Ladybug clapped her hands with glee.

“You can read my mind!”

“No, it's just that this is the ninth time I'm hearing you say it.”

Her face fell. “So we've already failed several times?”

“Yep.”

Her eyes were downcast. “Was it... was it my fault?”

“What? No! No way, of course not!” He tried to smile at her, as much of a bad mood as he was in. “Sorry if I sound annoyed, I'm just... I'm not mad at you, I promise.”

“Just frustrated at failing a lot?”

“Heh, seems like you're the one who can read my mind.”

She returned his smile. “Well we'll try to do better this time, Adrien.”

“Call me Aspik.”

“Aspik? Oh, that's a wonderful name for a superhero!”

He grinned for real this time. Then he looked down at the bracelet ticking away on his wrist – Luka would probably show up shortly, and he couldn't have that! He grabbed Ladybug's arm and ran with her through the tunnels.

Along the way, he tried to do some mental maths to keep himself occupied, since these drab sewer walls weren’t doing anything to keep him entertained. How many resets in an hour? A day? A week? A month?

-

They were out on the surface again before he triumphantly yelled out the answers.

“12! 288! About 2,000! About 9,000!”

“Shhh!” Ladybug pulled him behind a nearby van. “What are you doing?!”

“I’m bored,” he admitted. “I worked out that 12 resets takes me about an hour, 288 resets takes me a day–”

“Shhh,” she said again, though more gently this time, putting a finger to his lips. “It won’t take us that long. Okay?”

As much as his brain hadn’t been fully functioning before, it certainly wasn’t fully functioning right now, when she was doing that to him... Did she know what an effect it had?

Reluctantly, he pushed her hand away. This was no time for distractions. “Ladybug, if I keep this up I think I might go nuts...”

“You won’t need to! We’ll defeat Desperada this time!”

There was a maniacal cackle from somewhere behind them. “OH WILL YOU?”

Adrien turned just in time to see Ladybug shot right through the heart yet again.

Desperada’s laughter was ringing in his ears. He didn’t even move, he simply flicked the bracelet once more, cursing her under his breath.

Well, if this was going to keep happening, he was going to get extremely bored extremely fast. If he wanted to actually defeat Desperada then he needed new ideas.

He needed to _get creative_.

Closing his eyes as time rewound around him, he allowed himself a little smile.

From here on, anything went. No need to be sensible or professional about it. After all, if they failed then no one would remember it, right? And if they didn’t fail then, well, Ladybug would be proud of him for coming up with something crazy that actually worked.

Yeah. Now things were gonna get _interesting_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, NOW the crack can begin ;)
> 
> (Like, "trying to hit Desperada with a nerf gun" kinda crack. Also, this thing will probably oscillate between crack and extreme angst. Like, "existential despair and extreme boredom and suffering" kinda angst. You have been warned.)


End file.
